National Ugly Mugs ( NUM )

Fighting Stigma, Saving Lives

The National Ugly Mugs ( NUM ) project is a pioneering, national organisation which provides greater access to justice and protection for sex workers who are often targeted by dangerous individuals but are frequently reluctant to report these incidents to the police. These offenders are often serial offenders who pose a huge risk to the public as a whole.

Since the NUM project launched in July 2012 the ‘small’ charity that works with a budget of just £120,000 per annum has helped prevent dozens of rapes and thousands of violent crimes from being committed not only against sex workers but also the general public who benefit from the project helping police to apprehend serial violence criminals who target sex workers before going on to offend against other groups in society.

I have been happy to give my support as an official champion for the NUM since the National Ugly Mugs launched in July 2012, it is a privilege to be one of the first to sign on as a champion among an esteemed group of Champions and Supports and to help raise awareness for the work the NUM does to support sex workers rights and safety in countless ways, including the work they do to mediate between sex workers and the police to bring the ‘Ugly Mugs’ or bad eggs out there to justice so escorts like myself can continue to meet our customers and provide services to the good guys who benefit from our work.

Annually the National Ugly Mugs sent out over 80,000 potentially life-saving SMS Alerts to Sex Workers nationwide.

The NUM estimates that around 10,000 sex workers in the UK access NUM alerts. An NUM study shows that 16% of sex workers accessing the alerts had avoided a specific individual as a direct result, on this basis the National Ugly Mugs has prevented 1,600 crimes.

Over 90% of reports are shared anonymously with police, this means that police receive a significant amount of intelligence form the NUM project which they would otherwise not be privy to.

The average cost of police to investigate a single rape is £100,000, therefore just by sending alerts to help sex workers avoid serial rapists the NUM estimates the charity has saved the police around £46,400,000 since July 2012, equivalent to over £1 million per police force in England and Wales.

Over 60 incidents are reported to the NUM every month, more than 90% agree for NUM to share anonymously with the police, whereas less than 25% of victims would report the crimes directly to the police.

The NUM has prevented at least 51 rapes the NUM estimates that if each of those offenders went on to commit a further 3 rapes then by leading to the apprehension of serial rapists this translates to around £5,100,000 in police and tax payer savings.

The National Ugly Mugs evaluation found that 62.7% of sex workers are more likely to report violent crimes to police as a direct result of NUM

Updated figures show the NUM project has led to the convictions of 22 serial offenders, 17 of which are rapists.

Escorts – Reasons to Join (UK and Eire):

Receive Alerts – When members make reports through the National Ugly Mugs website those alerts will be sent out to escorts in the same region and through out the UK. Alerts can be received by txt message, email or read online at the NUM website and will soon be available in London by downloading the phone app. Members have access to alerts past and present in their region and across the UK.

Number Check – Gives you access to the database of phone numbers that have been reported by other sex workers through out the UK and Ireland to the NUM, this number check can be a vital tool to caution against meeting certain people who have been reported as potentially dangerous.

Reporting Crimes – Reporting crimes can be done anonymously to police through the scheme, this report function protects your identity and helps prevent further crimes and even save lives. You can report crimes directly to the NUM to make other sex workers aware of the threat without the reports being made to the police. Only with your consent will the report be made to the police and this can be done through the project without your personal details being shared. Reports can be made through the website after registration, sent by secure email or using the form on the NUM site with minimum details required or with a choice of a more detailed form.

Strength in Numbers – Many escorts work alone and discreetly without any close people having knowledge of their job. Having contact with groups and individuals in the business is important to your safety and can help protect you from harm. Accessing the alerts made by other sex workers in your area and nation wide for when you travel is as easy as receiving a txt message or email alerting you to potential dangers which you can then more easily avoid. All of which can be done discreetly without the need to speak with anyone, simply by joining the NUM you will have access to the alerts and Number Check.

Supporting the Project – Signing up as a member will help secure the pilot scheme’s future making sure escorts and street sex workers will always have this system of national and local alerts, which for the first time link up crimes from one region to the next region through out the UK. The more members the National Ugly Mugs project has, the more value the organisation can add by helping police prevent and solve more crimes nationally, the NUM will be better placed to receive the funding and donations vital to safeguarding the future of the project.

Further resources for Escorts ( Sex Workers )

National Ugly Mugs – Click the link to join the National Ugly Mugs and gain access to the above. Remember your details will not be passed on, the charity is an independent organisation which receives some police funding with no strings attached and relies heavily on private donations.Report a Crime – If you have a report to make right now please click that link and follow the instructions.UKNSWP – Click for a full list of sex worker projects around the UK.Agencies / Escort Directories Join – Online escort sites/ forums can join to pass on alert information to escorts through their websites.Escorts Resources – Click for useful contacts and info.NHS Open Doors – Access NUM information at NHS Hospitals in London and useful information for sex workers.